Page 40 of Big Island Sunrise
Kai raced by with Diogee, who carried a fallen branch nearly as long as he was. They ran in circles around the huge catchment tank that provided all of their water.
Rain ran off the rooftop and into the catchment tank, where it was stored under cover to be pumped through a filter to the house. It was a comfort knowing that whatever happened, they had fresh water.
There were any number of things she loved about this life that she had never given much thought to before.
Feeling light with the sense of a task completed and heavy labor now done, she went inside to shed her filthy coveralls and take a hot shower.
Lani was busy in the kitchen, with four pots simmering away on the stove and counters full of prep work. The Madeira family was coming over today for a sort of house warming, Mahina and Mano and all the cousins, and Lani had been preparing food since dawn. Rory was set up at the kitchen table, coloring a new set of sea animals that Lani had drawn and printed.
They were still there when Emma came back down, showered and clean and ready to help.
“What are you making?”
“Chicken katsu and rice, and the‘ulumac salad that my mom used to make.” She paused to push a stray strand of hair back into her ponytail. “I haven’t made this stuff in forever. It feels weird to make it alone. Bittersweet. Like it makes me feel closer to my mom, but at the same time it makes me miss her more.”
She nodded sympathetically. “How can I help?”
“Do you want to shave this sweet onion?” Lani handed her a peeled Maui onion and a cheese grater, then showed her to a huge bowl full of cooked macaroni and bits of steamed breadfruit. “That’s how my mom always did it.”
“Of course.” She tried shaving the onion directly over the bowl, then gave up and grabbed a cutting board so that she could brace the cheese grater on something.
“Mom, I’m bored!” Rory declared. She drew the words out, sounding so much like Kai that Emma winced. No one wanted their own kid to be the source of bad habits.
“Go outside,” Lani told her.
“I don’t like outside,” she whined.
“You love outside. Go find some eggs.”
“I don’t like eggs.” Rory hopped down from the chair and went to see what Lani was doing, but her mom swooped down to intercept her before she made it to the stove.
“Honey, I’m about to fry the chicken.”
“I want to help!”
“No. I don’t want you to get burned.”
“I’m a good helper!”
“You are a very good helper, but the oil splashes when it gets hot, and the splashes burn. I don’t want you to get a burn.”
“I don’t want to get a burn,” Rory agreed, peering over her mom’s shoulder at the pots on the stove. “I can make the salad?”
“Sure.” Lani set Rory up at the kitchen table with a vegetable peeler and a pile of carrots, which the tiny girl proceeded to process with surprising dexterity.
“That’s really good,” Emma said.
“I’m good at peeling,” Rory told her in a matter-of-fact tone.
“I should invite Kai into the kitchen more.” She scraped the shredded onions into the bowl of macaroni and stirred it all together.
“She was always with me,” Lani said, eyes on the chicken that she was frying on the stove. “She wanted to help in the kitchen. Eventually I realized how capable she is. She’s good with a knife, even. I just wouldn’t give her one while I’m busy frying food.”
“What’s next for the mac salad?”
“An absurd amount of mayonnaise.”
“Ha, okay. On it.”
